Loaded is the oldest story in the book, although I only got around to writing it in the fall of 2016. I've had that one in my head ever since the massacre of twenty children in Newtown, Connecticut. Loaded was my attempt to make sense out of our national hard-on for The Gun.
That said, my politics are my own. Lieutenant Myke Cole (U.S. Coast Guard, Ret.) read over Loaded and helped me get my facts right on the subjects of guns and military service. He isn’t on the hook for my fuckups, and you shouldn’t assume he in any way shares my agenda or point of view. Myke is more than capable of speaking for himself and does, in his novels, on his TV show Hunted, and on Twitter. That goes, too, for Russ Dorr, who also vetted Loaded for accuracy and pro vided me with first-rate research on the subject of law and disorder in Florida.
Each story in this collection was enriched with illustrations by a different artist. Snapshot features the art of Gabriel Rodriguez; Zach Howard armed Loaded with a pair of fine images; Charles Paul Wilson III graced Aloft with a couple of visuals; and the team of Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon delivered some crystalline eye candy for Rain. The book is a far more beautiful thing because of their craftsmanship and care.
HarperCollins produced a lovely audiobook of Strange Weather, employing the vocal gifts of four remarkable performers: Dennis Boutsikaris, Wil Wheaton, Stephen Lang, and Kate Mulgrew. My gratitude to them all—thank you for being my voice.
An earlier version of Snapshot appeared in a double issue of Cemetery Dance magazine. My thanks to Brian Freeman and Richard Chizmar for giving the story its first home and for treating it so well.
Quite a few people lent their talents and hard work to make Strange Weather look good. In the United States, they include my superstar of an editor Jennifer Brehl, Owen Corrigan, Andrea Molitor, Kelly Rudolph, Tavia Kowalchuk, Priyanka Krishnan, and Liate Stehlik. Maureen Sugden has done the copyediting in every single one of my books and has always made my prose much more direct and clear. Over in the UK, this book was loved and nurtured by editor Marcus Gipps, Craig Leyenaar, Jennifer McMenemy, Jennifer Breslin, Lauren Woosey, Jo Carpenter, Mark Stay, Hannah Methuen, Paul Stark, Paul Hussey, Jon Wood, and Kate Espiner.
My mother and father looked at each of these stories as they were written and offered their usual encouragement and editorial suggestions. My brother, the novelist Owen King, gave Strange Weather a read and offered several astute observations. Jill Bosa is a sweetheart for reading a late draft and correcting the sorts of goofs that slip in when you’ve lived with a thing for too long and can no longer see the glitches staring you right in the face. I’m grateful to my agent, Laurel Choate, for looking after this book from its earliest stages to final delivery, and to Sean Daily for representing Strange Weather on the film and television fronts. My gratitude to Dr. Derek Stern for his support, thoughts, and advice.
Finally: Thanks to my three sons for sharing the sunny days and the stormy ones alike. And my love to Gillian, who is the best of company and the best of friends, no matter what the weather.
Joe Hill
March 2017
Exeter, New Hampshire